Assessing Gas-Phase Ion Reactivity of 50 Elements with NO and the Direct Application for 239Pu in Complex Matrices Using ICP-MS/MS

Understanding the reactivity of metal cations with various reaction gases in inductively coupled plasma tandem mass spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS) is important to determine the best gas to use for a given analyte/interference pair. In this study, nitric oxide (NO) was investigated as the reaction gas following previous experimental designs. The reactions with 50 elements were investigated to examine periodic trends in reactivity, validate theoretical modeling of reaction enthalpies as a method to screen reactant gases, and provide a baseline data set for potential in-line gas separation methods. ICP-MS/MS studies involving actinides are typically limited to Th, U, and Pu, with analyses of Np and Am rarely reported in the literature. To date, only two previous methods have investigated the use of NO in ICP-MS/MS analyses. To showcase the utility of NO, a method was developed to measure 239Pu in the presence of environmental matrix constituent and other actinides, like what could be expected from postdetonation debris, with no chemical separation prior to analysis. 239Pu+ was reacted to form 239Pu16O+, eliminating interferences derived from the sample matrix by measuring the 239Pu+ intensity at m/z = 255 (239Pu16O+). To validate NO for 238U1H+ interference removal in environmental matrices, standard reference materials were diluted to 1 mg/g of solution and spiked to 0.05 pg/g of 239Pu and 1 μg/g 238U (Pu/U = 5 × 10-8). Measured 239Pu concentrations were within 6% of the spiked value. These results demonstrate that reliable 239Pu measurements can be made at levels relevant to nuclear forensics without the need for extensive chemical matrix separation prior to analysis.

Plutonium isotopes as tracers for ocean processes: a review

Since the first nuclear weapons tests in the 1940s, pulsed inputs of plutonium isotopes have served as excellent tracers for understanding sources, pathways, dynamics and the fate of pollutants and particles in the marine environment. Due to the well-defined spatial and temporal inputs of Pu, the long half-lives of (240)Pu and (239)Pu and its unique chemical properties, Pu is a potential tracer for various physical and biogeochemical ocean processes, including circulation, sedimentation and biological productivity, and hence a means of assessing the impacts of global climate change. Due to the source dependency of the Pu isotopic signature, plutonium isotopes are beginning to be exploited as tools for the evaluation and improvement of regional and global ocean models that will enhance understanding of past and future changes in the oceans. This paper addresses the major sources of Pu and the physical and biogeochemical behaviour in the marine environment. Finally, the use of Pu isotopes as tracers for various oceanic processes (e.g. water mass transport, particle export, and sedimentation) is considered.

Determination of 240Pu/239Pu atom ratio in coastal surface seawaters from the western North Pacific Ocean and Japan Sea

Surface seawater samples were collected from a site in the vicinity of the nuclear fuel reprocessing facility at Rokkasho, Japan and sites along the Japan Sea coast. (239+240)Pu activities and (240)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratios were determined by alpha-spectrometry and isotope-dilution sector-field ICP-MS. The (240)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratio with the mean value of 0.227 +/- 0.006 was significantly higher than the mean global fallout ratio of 0.18. The contribution of the Pacific Proving Grounds close-in fallout was estimated to be 33% of the (239+240)Pu.

Plutonium concentration and 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratio in liver of squid collected in the coastal sea areas of Japan

Plutonium isotopes, 239Pu and 240Pu, were measured in liver samples from Surume squid using a sector-field high resolution ICP-MS after radiochemical purification. Surume squid samples were obtained from nine landing ports in Japanese inshore during fishery season from September to December 2002. Concentrations of 239Pu and 240Pu ranged from 1.5 to 28 mBq kg(-1) and 1.1 to 24 mBq kg(-1), respectively. Plutonium (239,240Pu) concentrations in liver were several thousand times higher than levels found in seawater. The concentration factor (CF) compared to seawater for 239,240Pu and 13 other elements ranged from 10(0) to 10(7). The CF values for 239,240Pu, V and Th were 10(2)-10(4). Pu had an intermediate CF between conservative and scavenged elements. 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratios in the squid liver ranged from 0.177 to 0.237 which were slightly higher than 0.178+/-0.014 for global fallout. The variations of 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratios in ocean currents with different source functions are important for interpreting high 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratios in Surume squid liver. It seems likely that Pu with high 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratio is continuously transported through the solubilization and seawater transport from the North Equatorial Current to Kuroshio and its branch, Tsushima Current. By assuming that Pu found in Surume squid liver is a mixture of global fallout Pu (0.178) and close-in fallout Pu with high 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratio (0.30-0.36) around Bikini Atoll, Pu contribution from Bikini close-in fallout Pu accounts for close to 35% of the whole plutonium in Surume squid liver. These results highlight that Surume squid is a useful organism for evaluating environmental Pu levels of larger sea area and facilitate the development of models to understand oceanic transport of close-in fallout Pu from Bikini Atoll.

Vertical distributions of 239+240Pu activities and 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios in sediment cores: implications for the sources of Pu in the Japan Sea

The vertical distributions of 239+240Pu-specific activities and 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios in sediment cores of the Japan Sea were investigated. For comparison, the 239+240Pu-specific activities and 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios in the surface layer of bottom sediments in the Sea of Okhotsk were also determined. The 239+240Pu-specific activities in the surface layer sediments varied from 0.43 to 2.65 mBq/g in the Japan Sea. The lowest value was seen in the eastern Japan Basin, while the highest value was found in a sample collected from a coastal area off Hokkaido in the northern Japan Sea. It was found that the 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios in the surface sediments for the Japanese side of the Japan Sea ranged from 0.15 to 0.22. The 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios in the surface sediments collected from the Yamato Basin and Japan Basin were typically close to the global fallout value of 0.18, but higher 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios (0.20-0.22) were seen in samples from the northern Japan Sea. Vertical profiles of 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios revealed that these atom ratios were higher than the global fallout value in the deeper layers in the sediment cores from the northern Japan Sea on the Hokkaido coast and the Yamato Basin. In addition, the sediment cores from the northern Japan Sea near the Soya Strait and in the Ishikari Estuary had a constant vertical distribution of 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios with a value around 0.20. The results obtained in this work support the hypothesis that the prevailing ocean currents transported Pu derived from the Pacific Proving Grounds to the Japan Sea, and this contributed to the general elevated Pu inventory in the Japan Sea.

Sediment core record of global fallout and Bikini close-in fallout Pu in Sagami Bay, Western Northwest Pacific margin

The total 239-240Pu activity and 240Pu/239Pu atom ratio in the sediments in Sagami Bay of the western Northwest Pacific margin were investigated using ICP-MS with a shield torch system. 239+240Pu inventories in the examined sediment cores were found to be much higher than those predicted from atmospheric global fallout (42 MBq/km2) at the same latitude. In addition, elevated 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios ranging from 0.22 to 0.28 were observed in the sediment samples. On the basis of the vertical profiles of 239+240Pu and characterized 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios in a sediment core collected in the center of Sagami Bay, we identified two distinct sources of fallout Pu in the bay: the global stratospheric fallout with characteristic 240Pu/239Pu ratio of 0.18 and the transported close-in fallout derived from Bikini and Enewetak surface nuclear weapon test series in the 1950s. We propose that the Pu transportation was mainly due to oceanic processes (for example, through the North Equatorial Current and the Kuroshio Current). Using a two fallout end-member model, we find that the contribution of Bikini close-in fallout Pu ranged from 44 to 59% in Sagami Bay sediments. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that Pu contamination, which originated from Bikini and Enewetak nuclear weapon test series in the 1950s, has extended westwards as far as the Japanese coast.

Plutonium isotopes in seas around the Korean Peninsula

239+240Pu concentrations and 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios in coastal seas adjacent to the Korean Peninsula were determined, during the period 1999 to 2002, to assess the current distribution and to identify sources of Pu isotopes. 239+240Pu concentrations in surface waters ranged from 3.1 to 22.3 mBq m(-3) with higher concentrations in winter than in summer. 239+240Pu concentrations in seawaters around the Korean Peninsula are greater than that in the western North Pacific. 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios ranged from 0.18 to 0.33 with an average value of 0.25+/-0.03, which is significantly higher than the global fallout average. The 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios of the 2000 m deep entire water column in the south western part of the East Sea (Sea of Japan) was comparable to that observed in waters near Bikini Atoll. The higher 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios than that of global fallout may be explained by the hypothesis that the earlier input signal of low 240Pu/239Pu atom ratio (0.18-0.19) of global fallout plutonium in seas adjacent to the Korean Peninsula is being gradually diluted by the high 240Pu/239Pu atom ratio plutonium transported from the tropical Pacific Proving Grounds via prevailing ocean current.